PALACE AT HEIDELBERG.
“We visited the castle at noon. A ruin green with ivy rose before [!-- illustration --] [!-- blank page --] us. The sunlight fell through the open doorways, and the swallows flitted in and out of the window-frames into roofless chambers.
“I was dreaming of the past: of the counts-palatine of the Rhine, of stately dames, orange-gardens, and splendid festivals, when one of the boys recalled my thoughts to the present.
“‘Where is the tun?’
“‘What tun?’
“‘The one we have come to see,—the big wine-cask. It is said to hold two hundred and thirty-six thousand bottles of wine, or did in the days of the nobles.’
“‘I remember: when I was a boy my mental picture of Heidelberg was a big wine-cask.’
“‘Yes; well, please, sir, I am a boy now.’”
Mr. Beal then gave a brief account of